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AMORES PASADOS update

The first UK reviews have been begun to stir the waters of the classical charts. Andrew McGregor played the opening track on Radio 3’s CD Review and by the end of the day the album had gone to the top of the Amazon UK Classical Song chart (and was only a few short of the top spot in the whole of Classical). He admitted to owning a copy of the Red Byrd 1990 Factory album Songs of Love and Death which has the original version of the John Paul Jones songs, but found that ‘ the timeless quality of the music is enhanced by the use of lutes…’ on our recording. It’s such a relief when a reviewer actually understands what you’re trying to do – Andrew McGregor pointed to the ‘unaffected simplicity’ of our singing ( as opposed to the rather more loaded ‘determined not to sound too classical’ of The Guardian or the Irish Times who thinks it’s all about mic technique). And he absolutely got the point of mixing 17th & 21st century songs with new ones by rock musicians ‘…encouraging us to address any prejudices that emerge around who’s written a song and who’s allowed to perform it’ – describing it finally as ‘a luminous ECM recording… a lovely thing.’

Andrew Benson-Wilson was the first of the UK bloggers to pick it up. He also gets it – describing ‘No dormia’, the second of the John Paul Jones pieces, as ‘a magically evocative, and almost medieval interpretation of a poem by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer – ‘magical spaces’ indeed’ and seeing an affinity between the medieval and late 20th century minimalism in the Picforth In Nomine.He concludes by saying that ‘The mood of the CD is delightfully relaxed, and has something of an improvisatory feel’ – the latter being true and the former something of a relief…

The USA release was accompanied by an NPR Millennium of Music special hosted by the legendary Robert Aubry Davis, who quoted at length in his preamble from the Squenza21 review from Christian Carey. He also really understands the middle ground that we inhabit, with both composers and performers staying true to their identities:‘Whether in tuning the achingly beautiful close part harmonies in Jones’s No Dormia or navigating the harmonic and rhythmic shifts found in abundance in Banks’s “The Cypress Curtain of the Night,” Potter, Friman, and their lutenist colleagues prove skilful and sympathetic collaborators,’ using rhythm and phrasing to bridge the genre gap.

‘What amazes is how all the songs from such diverse times and places work together in a program where the present and the past commingle together artfully, glowingly.

All flows beautifully together with Potter’s vocals and those of Ms. Friman standing out with sensitive artfulness, the lute and fiddle parts giving us an early music feel yet of course the melodic structures differing by period. Nevertheless one finds the music unified by the instrumentation and vocal presence, as if one were looking into the future from the perspective of a Renaissance performing troupe.

It all is rather uncanny. Potter is outstanding as are the others in creating and sustaining a timeless mood, somehow mysteriously partaking of ages long gone and of the very near present. The sound has that ECM touch, so fitting for this music, and the performances are in every way worthy of the songs and their consistently high quality. Given half a chance, John Potter and ensemble will put you under their spell and give you much pleasure with this fine album.’

He absolutely gets it…

I was really pleased that The Arts Desk not only recognised the supreme artistry of Jacob Heringman and Ariel Abramovich, but also appreciated the Warlock and Moeran (this is a very fertile field that we continue to explore in concert):

‘The modern numbers don’t stand out as much as you might expect, helped by some sublime lute playing from Ariel Abramovich and Jacob Heringman. Vocal duties are shared between Potter and Anna Maria Friman, their pure, unaffected singing styles perfectly matched. No texts are provided, which is never an issue – diction is consistently good. The Campion settings are predictably well performed, but the real surprises are a pair of songs by Warlock and Moeran; the latter’s exquisite Housman setting the best thing on the disc. Of the new songs, Banks’s “Follow thy fair sun” is a highlight, along with Jones’s “So ell encina”. Sting’s “Bury me deep in the greenwood” closes this collection, beautifully sung by Potter. Unexpectedly delightful.’

I haven’t yet tracked down any from the European mainland apart from this very nice one from the arts journal Mutante in Portugal, but will do an update in due course.